Moose Dooley “Live at the Rex”

One year Neuse River played the Rex Theater in Galax, Virginia. Quite a good show it was, and the exposure on the radio throughout the southeast took the band to another level. We did a couple numbers with the Blue Mountain Diva, and she was a heckuva girl singer.

Hey, if you are in Galax, try the Galax Smokehouse. Along with the gig came a complimentary meal, and it was extra good. If you play bluegrass music, you become an expert on barbecue, and the ‘cue at the Galax smokehouse was on par with our hometown Bee Bridge’s BBQ, as high a rating as I can give.

We finished up the show around eleven, and left town precipitously. I thought it was ’cause the girls were after the Moose, but it turns out that Buddy Wrong heard the Warbler, our lead singer, on the radio, and was on his way to Galax to make good on the twenty bones we still owed him from a gig. It was late, and all the banks were closed. We couldn’t cash our check from the gig, and barely had enough money to get home. Moose convinced the Virginia State Patrol of the authenticity of a threat on the band’s safety, and we left under police escort.

Once we got back to the Interstate, it was smooth sailing. The Highway Patrol waved us off, and we proceeded south through Fancy Gap. Man, that was the worst pea soup fog I had ever seen. Moose ain’t never scared of anything, but I could tell being wedged in between those eighteen wheelers with visibilty limited to about twelve feet was not his favorite gig.

I wasn’t worried. Every once in a while, Moose would wake me up to help navigate. It was one of the few times I thought he needed any assistance, so I would stay awake for a while, but once I saw he wasn’t having any trouble negotiating his way down the mountain, would drift back to sleep.

The Rex is a fine gig, an old time live radio show like what you used to see all the time. If you are in that area, and you like live bluegrass music, it is worth checking out.